Grace to kill
by Liesmeli
Summary: Crossover The Hunger Games - Graceling, by Kristin Cashore. This is a story I wrote for school. What if there were Gracelings in Panem? How would one Graceling in particular cope in the arena? Katsa's 72nd Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favour!


**Hi! **

**This story is one I had to write for school, I'm studying English. We had to write a crossover of two books/films/comics/… of choice. I chose The Hunger Games and Graceling. If you don't know the second one, read it! Anyway I don't own The Hunger Games or Graceling.**

**Enjoy! **

**Prologue**

Katsa and Po stayed at the little cottage for a long time and they often visited the cave up the river. That was where Po asked about Katsa's Hunger Games. He had seen the entire Games on television of course, but he wanted to hear her story, her point of view. So Katsa told him everything. She told him about the reaping, the train ride, the training and then the talking got harder. Katsa took a deep breath and started telling Po about her interview and about her time in the arena.

**1**

'The next tribute is from District Five, the mysterious Katsa Adiiha.' Caesar Flickerman shouted into the crowd. In the time it took me to walk to the seat on the stage I noticed the thousands of people in the audience, the guards standing at every door and which weapons they were carrying. I always notice these things: the number of people in a room, who is a possible threat and what weapons they are carrying. That is my Grace. That is my curse, or blessing, depending on who you ask. As I sat down Caesar appraised me. I saw his eyes widening when he noticed my eyes.

'Katsa, my dear, I must say you look stunning. Your stylist has done a wonderful job. And yet, now that I see your eyes, everything else fades. One green eye and one blue. Do you know why your eyes are two different colours? I noticed, when I watched the tapes of the reaping, that your fellow tribute's eyes are two different colours as well.' Caesar asked me, as I had expected.

'It's because we are Graced.' I told him. 'In District Five some people are born with a Grace, an extreme ability or talent. Gracelings, that's what we call them, have two different coloured eyes.'  
>I knew what he would ask me next and what would follow my answer.<p>

'What is your Grace? I won't tell anyone.' Caesar asked me in a fake whisper, like it would be our secret.

'Do you really want to know?' I asked, already knowing the answer.

'Yes, of course, this is something different. We don't get a Graceling - is that the correct term? Graceling? - every year.' I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

'My Grace will be of great help in the arena, because I'm Graced with killing. I kill people.'

Then there was silence as I was being led from the stage. Just before I left the room I heard the loud 'OOOOOOOOOH' from the audience and the shouts about unfairness from the other tributes. Unfairness? I felt the rage burn through me and the Peacekeepers had to restrain me.  
><em>Didn't they know what it was like, taking someone's life, putting an end to their hopes and dreams? Of course they didn't. Even the career tributes had only practiced on dummies. <em>

_I almost had to laugh, thinking about the hypocrisy. The so called career tributes claimed it was unfair that I would fight in the arena armed with my Grace, while they had been learning to fight and kill their entire lives. At least I never asked to be able to kill someone. Even so, it wasn't unfair. I was reaped. When I turned twelve some men from the Capitol came to me and said that I wasn't allowed to volunteer for the Games. If I was reaped, I would have to go in the arena, but I couldn't volunteer. I didn't mind. The only person whose place I would have taken was Raffin, my cousin and my best friend. Since I couldn't take his place, anyway, I had no-one to volunteer for. _

**2**

I was still fuming when Kyan found me. Kyan was one of District Five's mentors. He had become Victor of the Hunger Games three years before my Games. He was Graced as well, though very few people knew about it. The tell-tale Graceling eyes were not as pronounced, since he had one light grey eye and one light blue. Most people believed it to be a trick of the light. I had known he was Graced for a long time. He was Graced with using hand-to-hand combat to gather information. When Oll and Kyan's guardian found out about our Graces, they organised training sessions for us, improving both our skills.

Kyan found me in the Training Centre and sat down on one of the benches along the walls. He didn't say a word. He didn't have to. I know he understood what I was feeling and how angry I was. He watched as I fired arrow after arrow at the dummies. When I ran out of arrows I started throwing knives, then spears. When I had two more spears left to throw Kyan stood up. I felt him come near me and I heard his fist coming towards my face. I dodged his blow and immediately countered his attack with a blow aiming for his shoulder. He blocked me and tried to trip me using a fighting pattern we had invented during one of our training sessions. We fought for a while, neither one of us really getting the upper hand. I was still better than him, though. Faking another blow to his shoulder, I managed to trap him in a secure hold, one from which he could only escape by wrenching himself free and thus causing himself a lot of pain. I brought him to his knees and had his forehead touching the ground, then I let him go. It was an old rule we had enforced as kids. A fight was only won when the other was on his knees with his forehead touching the ground or when the other surrendered.

'Well, well, seems like I still can't beat little Katsa.' Kyan said grinning, while he got up. He gestured to the bench he had vacated earlier and we sat down.

'Thank you,' I said, 'for the fight. I needed that.' He waved his hand, indicating he was happy to help. 'No, thank you. It's been a long time since I had such a good fight. Are you okay, now?' He asked me.  
>'I'm okay. I was just so angry. I mean, it's not as if I asked for this Grace. I would have been content without a Grace.'<p>

I got everything off my chest. I knew I could, because there had been times when Kyan had to go through the same thing. He had to endure the same prejudice with people who knew about his Grace. Kyan smiled at me.

'I know what you mean, Katsa. They have spent years and years learning and practicing how to kill someone and they are eager to try it for real. You and I we spent years learning how not to kill someone. We know what it's like, taking a life.' He looked at me. I knew he was talking about how he had killed his own father, not knowing who he was and believing his father was a double-agent for one of the so-called kings.

'And if I know one thing about you, Katsa Aliiha, it's that you will find a better use for your Grace. It might not be tomorrow, or even in a month, but one day you will be able to look back on your life and say: I did something good, something worth remembering.' I smiled. Kyan had always been good at giving motivational speeches. I knew, that when I stepped into that arena tomorrow, I would have to kill eventually. I hated killing people, but if I had to, I would take the lives of those careers with a smile on my face.

**3**

Fifty – forty-nine – forty-eight –

The voice was counting down to the moment in which we would all be released into the arena. I always thought this was always the worst part, the waiting.

– thirty-six – thirty-five – thirty-four – thirty-three –

I looked around the part of the arena that was visible. It reminded me of a story Helda used to tell me when I was a child. Helda's stories were the only thing that kept me calm those days.

– twenty-one – twenty – nineteen – eighteen – seventeen – sixteen – Can't they speed this up?

– eleven – ten – nine – eight – seven – six – five – Four, three, two, one and then I ran. I didn't even bother trying to get any weapons. I'd take the weapons the other tributes would bring to kill me. As I ran further and further away from the Cornucopia I was once more reminded of a story Helda used to tell me.

It's a story about an architect and his son. The architect was ordered by a king to build a labyrinth, so that a monster could be kept in there. When the labyrinth was built the king locked the architect and his son in there, along with the monster. To get out of the labyrinth the architect made two sets of wings out of feathers and wax. He and his son then flew out of the labyrinth. Something happened to the son, but I can't remember.

The arena was a giant labyrinth. I wouldn't figure it out until the next day, but this was no ordinary labyrinth. While remembering the story and running away from the bloodbath, that was sure to have taken place by the Cornucopia, I quickly realised that I would not be able to find an easily defendable shelter. Nor would I be able to build one here. There was nothing surrounding me except the enormous walls of labyrinth and a hard, concrete-like floor. I would have to spend the night awake, keeping watch of everyone approaching. Even though I knew I couldn't keep running forever, for it would eventually tire me out, I decided to keep running until nightfall. That was when it happened. It was right after the canons to announce the fallen tributes. It was a very soft tingling of a wind-chime. The tingling had made the walls of the labyrinth transparent, but before I could figure out what happened, a loud clap sounded. The next thing I knew I was trapped between four transparent walls. And I hate being trapped. I kicked and hit every spot of the walls I could reach, trying to break free. My actions were in vain. The walls looked solid as ever and I was still trapped.

Since I wasn't certain how long the walls would remain in place I decided to scan the arena for the other tributes. I noticed that they had all been trapped as well. They were scattered almost evenly over the arena apart from one group of about 5 people. I immediately recognised both career tributes from District Four and the girl from District Two. I assumed that the other big guy, from District Six, had made an alliance with them. The fifth person was a young boy maybe thirteen, certainly not older. I realised that in the moment we would no longer be trapped that little boy would die. I couldn't, no, I wouldn't let that happen. I started looking for the quickest path to where the boy was trapped, so that I could save him from the other tributes. Twenty minutes later there was a loud shattering noise, like the breaking of a glass. The sun had come up and we were no longer trapped, but I would never make it to the boy in time. The wall that had disappeared was not the one that had appeared last night. The labyrinth had changed.

**4**

All day long I ran through the labyrinth trying to find the careers, so that I could kill them and make sure their weapons left the arena along with their bodies. If I couldn't save the boy or any of the other tributes, I could, at least, give them a fair chance. As fair as it could be, with me running around. So far I had only come across the boy from Two. I took him by surprise so I managed to kill him with one hard blow to the head. There was no blood and no spectacle, just a quick and painless death. I left all of his weapons, except for a knife, on his body, so that they would be taken out of the arena along with him.

As I was running through the labyrinth I came across a sealed box at a dead end. On the lid of the box was a puzzle. I figured that I had to solve the puzzle to open the box. The puzzle wasn't that hard, but I hesitated before opening the box. These were the Hunger Games, anything could happen. Maybe there was a poisonous gas in the box or a dangerous animal or Mutt. An animal or a Mutt wouldn't be that big of a threat, gas, however. I decided to take the risk and opened the box. It was filled to the brim with cheese and cured meats and crackers and water. I had to restrain myself from diving into this feast immediately. Luckily my rationality resurfaced and I checked whether everything was edible. I found that everything was fine, except for a small golden flower. It's a very rare species, that only grows in Districts Five and Seven. I had just taken some cheese, meat, crackers and a bottle of water from the box when the fallen tributes were announced. I noticed that the boy's picture was not among them. I wondered how he had survived, probably because a wall shattered in a safe direction. After the canons and the announcement that wind-chime sound filled the air again. Like last night it turned the walls of the labyrinth transparent and it was followed by a loud clap. Once again I was trapped between four walls. I figured that the extra wall would be up all night again, so I settled down on the ground to eat my meal in peace. That was when I noticed the tiny cracks that had already started to form at the bottom of one of the walls, only on one of the walls. While eating for the first time in days I started planning for the next day. If I could figure out which tribute was in need of my help most, then I could trace the path there. I could make good of my promise to try and give the other tributes a fair fight. In order to do that I need to sleep, though. I laid down on the concrete and told myself to sleep for two hours.

**5**

After two hours of sleep I woke up. Like the night before I scanned the arena for the other tributes. There were 11 of us left, myself included. So far only one of the careers had been killed, the boy from Two. I saw that the careers, the same four I had seen the other night, were all trapped separately. That was good. That meant that they might be forced apart, making them more vulnerable.

They were near the girl from Three, Atya, and Kyler, the boy from my district. Depending on which wall shattered either of them was in more trouble than the other. Since the girl, Atya, was also in the vicinity of the careers from District One, I decided to go to her first. Then I would go and help Kyler. I memorised the path I would have to take in the morning to get to Atya and then the path that would get me from Atya to Kyler. I hoped that by that time the next day, there would be a lot less careers in the Games. I had some food left from the box, so I had some breakfast before getting ready. When the shattering started I was on my feet and the moment the wall disappeared, so did I.

I found Atya quickly. She was still sleeping, unaware that she was about to be killed by the approaching tributes. I wasn't sure who I would encounter but I could feel two people coming from my left. I turned and saw the girl from Four and the girl from Two coming closer. They must have been lucky with the shattering of the wall. The girls had noticed me and one of them was smiling maliciously.

'So, you finally came out to play.' She shouted tauntingly. I didn't respond. As usual my Grace made me gather every information I had about these two girls. They were both eighteen years old and they both volunteered for the Games. I noticed that the girl from Four was carrying a sword and a set of throwing knives. The girl from Two had an arrow notched in a bow.

'Wait Mahru, little miss Grace would be a good ally. She could help us kill the younglings.' The girl from Two said nodding to the still sleeping Atya. I felt my blood boil. The other girl, Mahru, just sneered.

'Like miss Priss would help us, Glani. No, I'm going to enjoy gutting her.' I had guessed that Mahru was planning on attacking me after her little speech, but first I wanted to have some fun myself.  
>I grabbed the rock that laid next to Atya and turned to Mahru.<p>

'You mean you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my sword and we'll try and kill each other like civilised people?' I asked. I could see in their faces that they didn't understand what I was saying.

'What do you mean? You don't even have a sword, I do!' Mahru and Glani were getting angry now, so I knew it was time to act. I dodged the arrow Glani shot at me. I swung my foot at her head, but she got away. However I was faster than her so I turned quickly and knocked her down. I heard her leg snap when she fell down on it. In that moment I saw Mahru coming at me with her sword.  
>I disarmed her smoothly, not even touching her.<p>

'What was that about me not having a sword?' I asked her mockingly. She was furious. She came at me again, this time with her knives. It was quite a fight, I must admit. She even managed to scratch me with one of the knives, but eventually she was no match for me. I faked a frontal attack by coming at her and turning to her back. Since I had ducked and turned while squatting she hadn't seen me until it was too late. I already had one of my hands on her chin and the other on her forehead. I tugged and pushed on my hands, breaking her neck.

Then I noticed that Glani was reaching for her bow and quiver of arrows. Right when she closed her hand around the bow I stamped down on it, hard, snapping the wood and making the weapon useless. I turned to her then and saw the fear in her eyes. That made me even more angry, though I wasn't angry at her this time. This time all my anger was directed at the Capitol and their Games.  
>'Why would you volunteer for the Hunger Games if you're afraid to die? Were you so certain that you would win this thing?' I asked. She looked at me like I was this naïve little child.<p>

'I didn't volunteer,' she told me, 'I was reaped in the Training School. Every year a boy and girl, who have been trained for the Hunger Games, are reaped. They are then forced to volunteer at the official reaping.' I didn't understand. Why would she still volunteer? Why would she even enter the Training School? It was as if she had read my mind, because she explained that her parents were very poor. They would not be able to keep both her and her brother alive unless one of them entered the School. Her parents sent her, because then they would receive a very generous fee. Apparently they really needed more girls in the Training School. Then she asked me if she could do the honours herself. I looked at her strangely.

'What do you mean?' I asked. She smiled at me.

'I want you to give that arrow,' she pointed to a beautiful dark green arrow, 'so that I can kill myself.'  
>I was shocked. No-one in the history of the Hunger Games had ever deliberately killed himself. I decided that it couldn't hurt. If she tried anything I would notice and I would be able to hit her in the head and kill her myself. I grabbed the arrow and gave it to her as she made to sit up. She held her head up high and then plunged the arrow in her chest. The cannon made it clear that she had died. I gathered all the weapons and distributed them between both girls, so that these weapons would leave the arena with them.<p>

As I made to leave I heard a soft voice say thank you. I turned around only to see a mass of red hair. Then I felt two small arms around me. I had never been hugged before. Raffin and Helda had both tried, but I never let them. I pried Atya's arms away from me and looked her in the eye.

'Don't thank me. You may not even live to see tomorrow. I only wanted to make this fair.' I said and then I ran away without looking back. By the time I got to where Kyler had been the night before, the place was empty. Since I hadn't heard any canons other than the ones for Mahru and Glani, I figured he was still safe.

I took to running to the perimeter again. I had advanced a lot when the canons sounded. Only two tributes had been killed today. Then there was the tingling of a wind-chime again followed by a loud clap. I was once more trapped between four transparent walls. But this time I noticed something new. Not that far from where I was standing I could see trees, some mountains and an old house.  
>This arena didn't stop in the labyrinth after all.<p>

**What did you think? Let me know?! I'd love it if you reviewed.**

**Love, Liesmeli**

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